Life has a messed up sense of humor
by Meh1475
Summary: Hakori is the son of Amon and Noel. For some time he was the only child,until his father had an affair with another woman resulting in the birth of his half sister. Look through his eyes to see how it all began,travel with him through his childhood. This is his story.
1. Chapter 1

**A: N: I don't own anything – just the OCs I created – Hakori, Noel and Callie. More might appear during the story. The rights on ATLA/ LOK go to the creators.**

 **Hakori's POV:**

 **153 AG**

It was yet another cold day in the Northern Water Tribe. Not that I disliked the cold, I was actually used to it, like most of the Northern Water Tribe citizens. It was an utter, complete frozen landscape, to say the least. It was still early when I woke up on that say, since the Northern Lights were still in the sky and the sky was dark.

Hours passed as if it was nothing, and I watched the Northern Lights to gradually disappear and the night to give place to the day, and only by then I heard the door to be opened. Like most of the days, it was my mother that woke me up or in case I was already awake, picked me up from my crib. Something due to "rising with the sun", whatever that meant.

Soon enough, after the normal things on morning time, we were both heading out of the house, my mother with a complete irritated look upon her face. I sort of shrugged it off as it was nothing, since I had no clue of what had caused my mother's anger. As for my father, he seemed to be lost in thoughts.

The short path to the local hospital, or more like a healing hut where people went if needed healing or just someone to look after them for a few days, went in silence. I didn't utter a word, as I was merely a year old and hadn't yet learned how to speak, and while my mother seemed angry; my father was just miles away in thoughts.

Once we walked inside, I just heard people chattering about the most random things. While still on my mother's arms, I heard her and my father chatting with a third woman I cannot recall the name. Unlike most of the times, my mother's voice was harsh on that very particular day. I heard my father say something and then my mother approaching me from a crib where a tinier baby was, asleep. Most people are just thrilled, while I was a mix of curious and mad about the smaller child asleep on the crib.

Or maybe I just didn't know what to feel about the baby in the crib at all. If it were to me, I wouldn't be here watching her, I supposed. As the baby opened her eyes, a confused look crossed my eyes, for I could see my father's eyes on her – blue, like the ocean. It wasn't that uncommon here for most people have blue eyes, it was in fact normal for people born in the Water Tribes, especially waterbenders. However, despite my father, Noatak, thought I could as well inherit his bending abilities, I always thought I would inherit my mother's firebending abilities. My mother was a woman from the Fire Nation, having grey eyes due to a mutation, eyes that I have inherited instead of my father's blue eyes like I had expected. That way, I wouldn't be spotted on by them, as difference wasn't very well accepted on a culture formed and kept by Elders, leading to sexism, among other things. However, I just didn't have the time to worry about such trivial, normal things on the place I was born in. And maybe I didn't care as well.

A voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and I turned to the direction of the woman I was sure I hadn't ever seen before in my life, I had no doubt of it. As I felt my mother tense, as she was now the one holding me, I discovered why she was angry – she should be the small baby's mother, but what I didn't know was why would my father need another wife. Didn't my mother keep him happy? They always seemed so happy together…

"Please take care of her."

This was the woman speaking, though I didn't know whether it was addressed to my mother or my father. I didn't know her name, but the voice sounded weak to me, and I heard her speak more, but those words were all I could make out as the voice gradually disappeared, and the woman remained limp on the small bed she was in. I felt some tears to well up on my eyes, but I wasn't sure why I was crying at all. I felt also my mother rocking me while telling me not to cry and then, once I did, she shifted by position so she could hold the other baby on her right arm. I remember growing jealous of the other baby. I knew it could as well be wrong. I was never spoiled, but I couldn't help the feeling of replacement towards the baby on my mother's arm. I kept looking at her in confusion, especially to the emotion seen on her eyes, something I didn't quite know, only that it wasn't anger or hatred. It was something in between, like she wasn't sure of what to do.

After a while of watching my mother, I turned towards the baby – my half-sister, I heard my father say, despite not being fully sure of what it meant at such a young age. I remember that I didn't like her on the few first months, or maybe the first year. I had been happy when being the only child, and I was a quiet one, while she was the hyper one. It took me quite the longest time to fall asleep rocked by my mother. It wasn't that easy to get me to sleep during the night, especially when the full moon appeared on the sky. I then only fell asleep when the sun appeared on the sky, reaching my eyes like telling me the night was over and I could fall asleep. That simple fact tended to lead my father to think I was a waterbender, despite the fact that I hadn't yet show any ability on it, not even moving a tiny bit of water. The same applied to fire, though. As soon as I noticed my sister asleep on my mother's arms, I closed mine and snuggled a little closer, but I wasn't asleep yet. It was late afternoon or so, as I couldn't see the sun in the sky at all.

I could hear my parents arguing, though. I wasn't sure as of why they were arguing, though I had a small hint, and I couldn't make out what they were saying at the moment. Oddly enough, I quickly fell asleep, forcing myself to shut out the sound of the argument they were having, having a feeling that I wasn't supposed to hear it anyway. If it was meant to be, I would hear it sometime, but for now, I just allowed my eyes to close and enter my own dreams.

 **A: N: So what did you think? I hope you enjoyed it. Please review and until next chapter!**


	2. Chapter 2

A:N: Again, I don't own the stories. Rights go the creators. The only thing I do own are the characters I created, Hakori, Callie and Noel. I know it has been years since I've wrriten anything, but I hope you enjoy it.

 **Hakori's POV:**

 **155 AG**

It had been three years since the little crying thing, as I often called her, had come to this world. She had stayed with us, despite my father's protests and claims she didn't belong here. She, you might wonder, was my half sister Zaerya. Even at the age of three and a half years old, I had the ability to understand things like that. Precocious and promising, my father called me. It seemed he was proud of me for reasons I did not understand. I did like it, though. I liked the looks of approval my father gave me, and I liked that my mother loved me.

What I did not like, was my sister. I felt as though she was stealing attention and love from me and often, I would ignore her. She was about a year old now, and had begun to walk everywhere around the house, but often tripping on things. With my mother expecting a third child, and my father working on who-knew-what nearly 24/7, it was up to me to take care of her, which I hated to do. I considered it unfair. I was a little older than two, and had already to take care of a one year old that didn't know how to be still for five seconds. Even if odd, I remembered being her age. I was nowhere near as clumsy nor had I done half the noise she did whenever she wanted something. It seemed that I had inherited my father's personality; my mother always said of me as she told me a bedtime story and then closed the door when she thought I was sound asleep.

What no one knew is that I didn't sleep much. I liked to watch the Northern Lights. My mother often told me those were spirits dancing in the sky, making beautiful colors and quite a show to be watched. I usually ended up asleep in the morning when they would fade away, lulled to sleep by the lights rather than by the stories my mother told me. However, that was a secret I did not share.

That night, however, I did not sleep well. Not only had I stayed up watching the Northern Lights, but as soon as I fell asleep, my mind was filled with nightmares I could not comprehend. My young mind recognized the people in my sleep, but when awake, I only remembered briefly of what happened in them. Soon, I was wrapped up in my nightmares.

 _-beginning of the dream-_

" _Noatak, go!" An older man I had never seen before said in a rather harsh tone. I wasn't prepared to see what I was seeing. Two brothers controlling each other's bodies, the oldest starting first. He seemed cold and detached, and striving to obey his father no matter what._

 _I heard the youngest brother in pain as the oldest brother manipulated him against his will. It was something horrifying to watch, and I was sure that I felt my heartbeat increase during that. Finally, the eldest brother let him go._

" _Excellent. " The father, Yakone, commented, before turning to the youngest son. "Tarrlok, your turn."_

" _No. I won't do it!" He protested, firmly standing his opinion._

" _Bloodbend your brother Tarrlok!"_

" _That feels awful! I don't want to do that to anyone. I never want to bloodbend again!"_

" _You are a disgrace! A weakling! I will teach you a lesson you'll never-"_

 _I hear the father being silenced as suddenly, his body twitched and turned in positions I never thought that could be possible for a body to turn into. Whimpering, I clutched my pillow as the dream continued._

" _Stay away from him"_

" _How dare you bloodbend me?" The father demanded, only to hear his eldest son taunting him._

" _What are you going to do about it? You're the weak one. You always say bloodbending is the most powerful thing in the world. But it isn't. The Avatar is. He took your bending away. What can be more powerful than that?"_

" _I made you what you are. You're mine"_

 _I heard the two brothers have a small conversation, not enough to last more than a couple minutes._

" _We're your sons, not your tools of revenge. Let's go. We'll run away from him, Forever."_

" _Run away? But what about mom? We can't just leave her."_

" _He was right about you, you are a weakling."_

" _Noatak! Don't leave, please! Noatak"_

 _-end of the dream-_

I woke up startled from the dream. It hadn't been the first time I had it, but I never told anyone about these dreams that I had. I locked them in the back of my mind, not daring to ask any questions about them. Somehow, I felt that it was something that should not be asked about, something that should remain a secret. The dreams never showed me what had happened to Noatak, the boy that had left, or the end of the story. It was always something I could never achieve, even when I tried to fall back asleep.

I heard a knock on my door, interrupting my thoughts. It was still dark out, and through the confusion on my mind, I could hear my parents' voices and sat up on the bed, wondering what was up. It wasn't too common for both of them to appear in my room in the middle of the night, I was sure of it. In fact, it had never happened before.

"Son. " My mother, Noel, started speaking to me. She was a firebender, and I wondered how exactly she lasted in this cold weather. "Your father and I have to leave for the day. We have business to attend to during the whole day, and we can't take you both. Zaerya is under your care today. Normally, I wouldn't do this, but there is no other way. Can you look after her for a day?"

She couldn't be serious, I thought to myself. I barely knew how to take care of myself, let alone to take care of the little crying thi- okay, she wasn't as little anymore, and knew more or less how to walk now, but she still cried a lot, that sister of mine. Still, I couldn't exactly say no. There was simply no one else to take care of her, so I would have to do my best. Getting up and changing to normal day clothes, I yawned, keeping my dreams and worries at bay, focusing on what I had to do. Luckily, my mother had taught me the basic things, so that should do for one day. Still, I wasn't too thrilled over spending the day at home looking after my sister when I could be outside playing with some other kids and do a snowball fight or build a snowman or anything of the sort. And for those, I couldn't bring Zaerya with me. If something happened to her during both activities, I would be blamed for sure.

I wasn't sure of what she liked to do other than walking around the house and making a mess of things. As she cried on her crib, I made my way over, getting a small ladder to reach her and remove her from the crib, sighing as I had to hold her. We simply did not get along and I didn't like being close to her, but as my parents had just left, I had no choice. Walking to the kitchen where my mother had left a bottle of milk prepared, I fed it to her the best I could while sitting on the couch. I waited patiently as she finished, hoping to be able to burp her like my mother did all of the time with me watching her at times. Soon, she allowed me to.

I checked for a dirty diaper while she continued to cry, but hers was clean. I couldn't understand why she was crying, I had just fed her, her diaper was clean and she had slept well during the night and had just woken up. I was prepared for the basics, but not for my sister to be crying for no apparent reason. Resigned, I sat on the couch and cradled her, but she wouldn't stop crying for anything in this world, and probably the next if such thing existed.

We've sat there like hours, and I was beginning to get a headache by the time she did stop crying. I had been holding her the whole time, and cradling her and she wouldn't still stop crying. She began to play with my hair, tugging at it and causing me to wince.

"No." I said, but as I saw her tear up and nearly begin to cry, I sighed and gave in. "All right."

I wasn't one to speak much, as I had always been a quiet child according to my mother but had enough words to make myself be understood. Now she was giggling as she played with my hair, but for once she had finally stopped crying fully. All right, I had to admit it; she was cute when she wanted to be. I couldn't deny that, although I was still resentful over sharing my parents with her. I was still her older brother, and whether I wanted to admit it or not I was proud of my little sister or half sister as I was told as times by my father. I laughed as she kept playing with my hair, a soft laugh but a laugh nonetheless. Maybe we weren't the closest siblings in history, but we've taken the first step to at least get along.

Despite these moments together, I was glad when she went and fell asleep cradled on my arms. I set her back down on her crib to sleep, knowing I could accidentally drop her without meaning to. I went to sleep myself, despite being alert enough in case Zaerya woke up and needed anything. I needed to know what strange dreams were the ones I was having. Unfortunately, I drifted to a sleep with no dreams, getting no new clues or leads about the strange dream I had that morning. In a way, I was glad, I needed the rest if I was to look after Zaerya for a few hours, although by the time I woke up, my parents were home again, earlier than expected. It had only been three hours since I fell asleep, and it took them half of a day instead of a whole day as they had predicted.

I noticed my mother bend forward in pain and through the sleepiness, I frowned in worry. What was happening to my mother?


	3. Chapter 3

**A: N: Again, I don't own the stories. Rights go the creators. The only thing I do own are the characters I created, Hakori, Callie and Noel. I know it has been years since I've written anything, but I hope you enjoy it. Kind of M rated for a descriptive bloody scene among the chapter, and abuse and violence.**

 **Hakori's POV:**

 **155 AG**

Again, I had no idea of what was happening around me. It did seem that everyone was forcing me to grow way sooner than what I was supposed to. I was merely 2 years old, almost 3, and already was being treated like an adult. It was unfair, and despite being so young, I could feel intense anger cross through every bit of my soul, like poison eating away someone's body. My mother screamed in pain, this time louder. It was enough to send a shiver down my spine and scare the living crap out of me, even considering the fact there weren't many things that scared me. I heard my father's demanding voice.

"Hakori, stay with your sister. I will send someone in to watch over the two of you as soon as it is possible". His tone wasn't one open to discussion.

I rolled my eyes and darted back to my room where my sister was still asleep. I couldn't remember having slept as much as she did when I was her age, but I didn't care. Shrugging my shoulders, I sighed in frustration. Hakori do this, Hakori do that. Hakori, don't even think about doing that. Every day was just another set of orders from my father with no explanation at all. He expected me to act like an adult at the mere age of 3 years old, but then still treated me like the child I was. All of this was confusing, and this time I was going to make sure I was going to disobey. I was tired of being Noatak's perfect child.

 **3 hours later**

Technically, I wasn't breaking any of my father's rules and orders. Carrying my sister on my arms, I had darted after my father and mother the moment they walked out of the house. Stay with Zaerya, he had said. He had only failed to mention where, so I was going to follow them and see what they were hiding from me this time. It seemed serious and I wanted to know. Worse, I felt like I had the right to know.

I followed their trails to the nearest healer. What were my mother and father doing here? I knew my mother, she was strong and right now, from what I could see from the small window concealing my sister and me, she looked weak and fragile, and in a lot of pain, not to mention she had a very pale tone to her skin, especially on her face.

I felt a shiver run down my spine, and I wasn't even cold. I never got cold up here. I have lived here my whole short life, and was used to how cold it was, like most citizens of the Northern Water Tribe. It was the same thing on the South, but we had the difference of this place being a fortress or something similar to that.

I turned my attention back to my mother. She seemed to be whimpering now, tears rolling down her cheeks and especially, blood everywhere. I forced myself not to throw up at the sight I was watching. It seemed like something was wrong, very very wrong. My mother never seemed this weak and I wondered if she was going to die right before my eyes. Instantly, I covered my sister's face, glad that she was still asleep. She didn't need to see this.

I paced quietly as I watched. It seemed like a never ending torture, what was happening with my mother. More blood kept flowing and my mother seemed to be holding on to life by a thread. Finally, I heard two cries, one a bit louder than the other. Twins? I wondered to myself. From what I knew, it was rare that women survived to the birth of two children at the same time and judging by my mother's look, I was afraid that she wasn't going to make it out of here alive. Feeling sick to my stomach, I prepared to make it back home, when I heard footsteps headed in my direction.

"Hakori." My father began, and I thought he was coming to scream at me for disobeying him, but he had the most emotional look on his face that I have ever seen. Not even when I had been sick for a whole week after birth, not even when my half sister's mother had gone to the other life had I seen him like this. "Why don't you come inside? You've already seen a lot here tonight."

Hesitantly, I walked inside, not expecting this reaction from my father. Placing Zaerya on his arms, I walked inside gulping and not sure what else I was going to be watching tonight. I saw my mother lying on the bed, the twins in which side of her. She was holding them and feeding them, which I think she shouldn't be right now in her much weakened state. The healer seemed to have made every effort to help her and now it was up to her. But then again, the twins were little, fragile little crying things, much like my sister was. No matter what I'd always see them that way. I was the eldest child, after all.

I sat down by my mother's side, but I didn't know what to say. What was I going to say? It didn't feel right to be a child now and plead for her not to die, but behaving like an adult and tell her it would all be okay could show coldness in my behavior and I didn't know what to do, so I nuzzled her for some comfort and to comfort her at the same time, hoping it would be the right thing to do. I felt my mother's weak arms holding me and froze a little in fear but relaxed against them, hoping it would all be okay.

When I next woke up, I was back home, my sister Zaerya sleeping in her crib and the twins in the room next to mine and Zaerya's, sound asleep judging by the lack of noise around the house. I didn't think my father was home, but here he was, sitting across the living room, or rather, lying down on the floor with my mother lying down on the couch, seeming to be sound asleep. I peeked out of my room and stood on my tiptoes to make it to the living room and to them. But nothing could have me prepared for what would happen next. My father was prone to be angry but I have never, ever, seen him this angry. The moment I stood out of my room, I heard him move fast towards me, drag me to his room and toss me against the nearest wall. I fell without a sound; I didn't want to startle anyone that I managed to care for in the house. I closed my eyes and imagined I was somewhere else.

The next hour would be the most painful of my life. For that hour, all I could see was the redness of blood flowing down from cuts on my skin, the twisting of some muscles and a few broken bones. Not even in the stillness of my mind I could manage to gather enough peace to make it through this, and I felt myself drifting to unconsciousness where I lay, on the floor of my parents' room.

When I next opened my eyes, all I could see was the blackness of my own room. Zaerya had been moved, and everything in my body ached. My father wasn't a healer and refused to bring me to one, and my mother was a firebender and couldn't do anything to help me. Every time she tried to bring me out of the door, my father would slam it shut and they would argue for hours. She seemed a lot healthier now, which brought me some relief through the pain I was feeling. My siblings and I would not be left alone with such a monster. It was how I was seeing my father now, no less than a monster than had hurt his child for no apparent reason. Even if there was one, I didn't want to know it. I didn't know where my siblings were right now, which immediately made me feel like an awful older brother, but there was nothing I could do to protect them in this state.

Even so, I was somehow glad that I had been the one to take on the beating. I was sure I would never forgive myself if my father turned against one of them. It was soothing to have my mother now, that was doing all that she could for me, to apply ice cubes on my skin gently as she hummed a song that I knew I'd never forget.

"Leaves from the vine, falling so slow, like fragile, tiny shells, drifting in the foam. Little soldier boy, come marching home, brave soldier boy, comes marching home…" I heard her sing in a soft, low voice, in and out of sleep. I winced at times, feeling that no true comfort came through the pain without a healer, even if my mother was doing all she could for me. I coughed, and winced as I did so.

"Mom…" I whispered, making sure my father wouldn't hear me. "If this ever…if this ever happens again…Do you promise to take us four out of here? Please mom….promise me…promise yourself…don't leave us with him."

"I promise." My mother whispered, gently kissing my forehead. I felt lightheaded, like I was going to faint again, but just closed y eyes, the two of us staying there in silent comfort, unsure of what the future would bring us. Neither of us heard my father coming in the rest of the night or for the following days, and at the night of the third day, we heard the door close after someone leaving, and took a deep breath of relief. I looked at my mother, with a knowing look that only she and I knew what it meant. It was time to leave the house, the five of us. To pack, and then leave, to never return to this hell that the house had become. No matter what, we would never return to the place we once used to call home, but in which now we always felt so alone, despite having always each other.


	4. Chapter 4

**A: N: Again, I don't own the stories. Rights go the creators. The only thing I do own are the characters I created, Hakori, Callie and Noel. Armina and Lana are a friend's creations that are part of the family. Again this chapter is M rated for possible violence.**

 **Hakori's POV:**

 **155 AG**

I could see my mother moving quickly around the house, packing a large bag with things for all of us. Mom would take four kids out of the Northern Water Tribe with an unknown destination. I didn't know where we would be going. I watched over my sisters while my mother frantically packed. I watched the night turn into day, forcing myself to stay awake. I would probably be needed to carry something or one of my sisters when the time came. Taking occasional deep breaths, I tried to murmur and reassure them in their sleep that it would all be all right.

As morning finally rose, I watched my mother carry the large bag towards the door of the house, carrying the twins on her arms as well. I carried my half sister, Zaerya, to where my mother was leading me, to a large boat where she hoped we'd go by unnoticed among so many people in one boat. We quickly hid inside a small cabin that had been given to us. It had four beds, and in all honesty, we wouldn't need more. The twins could sleep with my mother and I could hold Zaerya while asleep.

It seemed to be hard, though, making a trip with four kids and I felt bad for my mother, especially since she was the one the one who was travelling on her own with four kids. I could only imagine how hard it was for her, since there was no guarantee that we would make it to the destination. Maybe my father found us.

Some hours passed with us staying inside. I waited anxiously for the ship to depart half asleep on the bed my mother had placed me and Zaerya in. I had stayed up the whole night and I was exhausted now, and just wanted to sleep. I kept her close to me; as if afraid someone would take her and my family from me. I couldn't let that happen, no matter what. I finally fell asleep, lulled by the soft movements of the boat we were in.

 **Hours later**

"Stop this ship!"

I woke up to a harsh, demanding voice telling for the ship to be stopped. It seemed familiar, but I couldn't place it among the sleepiness I felt. I had only been asleep for a few hours and suddenly I found myself waking up by this voice. I checked on Zaerya and the twins, seeing they were asleep, and my mother was too. Ignoring the voice, I went to the door, making sure it was locked in hopes that no one would get in. That voice made me shiver and gave me a very bad feeling. I went back to the bed and held Zaerya close once more, closing my eyes and pretending I was asleep.

Not even five minutes had passed when I heard the door being knocked down and heard Zaerya and the twins cry at the noise that had been just made. Sighing quietly, I didn't move and held her close, looking up at whom had walked in: my father. He seemed furious and didn't address any of the four kids, instead, he turned to my mother and said a simple sentence: Noel, let's go home, now.

I felt the boat changed directions. Of course, we would still take a few hours to get home as we were hours away from it, but soon enough we would be back with my father at the house. Our attempt of escaping my father had been futile and I was sure that we wouldn't get a second chance. My mother would most likely be under watch. Taking a deep breath, I just waited for us to get home, staying up until then.

It didn't take as long as I expected to get home, and as soon as we did, the four of us were sent to our room. I muttered something under my breath, placing Zaerya, Armina and Lana in their cribs before closing the door as my father crossed through to make sure we were all inside. My three sisters were all asleep, thankfully, for I was sure that they wouldn't be ready to hear anything that would come next, much like I wasn't.

I opened the door a little bit, quietly, as soon as my dad left so I could see what was going on, and hear it better too.

"What did you think you were doing? Did you really think you could escape from me and take the kids?!"

"N-No, I…."

"Don't lie to me! You wanted to run away with them did you not?"

"Y-Yes…." I heard my mother say, and what I heard and saw next made me flinch. With one flick of his hand, I heard him slap my mother and heard her fall on the floor. Neither of them said anything else but I saw him hitting her and closed my eyes, gasping once at the violence being used. I forgot that I wasn't meant to be watching, and my father jerked his head upstairs for my face.

"Hakori! I told you to get the door closed. I will deal with you in the morning."

Scared, I closed the door again, and heard my father come upstairs to lock it. I curled up in my bed, afraid for the first time in my life. He had scared me before but not like this.

The next things I heard were my mother's screams and the sound of my father hurting her. I didn't even want to imagine what he was doing right now to her as I lay there. I knew I shouldn't, but I forced the door open, as quietly as possible. During the noise in the house, it wasn't luckily heard. I could see my father kicking my mother and her defending herself as she could, curled up on the floor and bleeding from places. I felt a shiver run down my spine and wanted to do something to help but was afraid of what my father would do to me if I dared to go downstairs. I was already to be dealt with in the morning. I curled up in my bed after silently closing the door, whimpering softly and hoping I wouldn't be heard, but should be okay as the loud noises continued, so loud that I wondered how my sisters remained asleep so peacefully. But soon I too fell asleep, succumbing to sleep and exhaustion, snuggled up under the covers into a deep sleep, although having nightmares through the whole night.

When I woke up on the next morning, I yawned and stretched, noticing that it was late into it, despite it being winter and cold, it was still late morning. My sisters were awake in their cribs now, seemed fed and cleaned and like nothing had happened. I was the only one old enough to move on my own, well without hesitation. Zaerya was just now taking her first attempts at walking. I walked downstairs hoping to find my mother, but she was nowhere to be seen and her things weren't in the house.

"Mom?" I called for her, only to hear no reply. The soft presence she had in the house had disappeared, taking with my childhood's innocence. Instead, it was my father who I have heard.

"Hakori. Come here."

As I didn't move right away, he slammed his fist on the table. "Hakori!"

I rushed to his side then, after jumping when he slammed his hand on the table. I wasn't used to violence coming from him. This wasn't the same father I have met. Although he had always been distant, I wasn't used to having such violence come here. "Yes father?"

"Your mother is not coming back. "

"What do you mean; my mother is not coming back? What did you d-" My words were cut off by a slap on my face. Like my mother, I had fallen on the floor, but stood up right away. I could sense my father did not stand for weakness seen in front of him.

"Don't interrupt me when I'm talking son. Ever. Now, as I was saying, your mother is not coming back. I sent her away and she is not coming back. And things are going to change around here. I will train you in every skill there is to know about Waterbending, and your sisters too when they are able to stand on their feet. Now disappear of my presence and may I not see you until you've developed some strength."

I didn't wait to be told a second time and disappeared until my father called me hours later for a late night training session. I didn't think twice in going, although I'd much rather prefer to stay with my sisters, I didn't dare to disobey to my father. If interrupting him was what it was, I could only imagine what would happen if I didn't appear.

The training session on Waterbending were advanced techniques that I had barely attempted on trying, but my father made me practice until there was at least some progress in those techniques. By the time he was satisfied, it was already late morning again, and I was exhausted like I have never felt before. I took a bath, and went straight to bed in my sleeping clothes, wishing this was all a dream and that things didn't change this much, or wouldn't change this much so I could tell for sure my mother was still here and we were all safe. I hoped he wouldn't hurt my sisters or me in the future and that he wouldn't force them to learn what I was forced to learn and train them in this. It was brutal and exhausting and it wasn't anything I wished for them. I hated the training I was being given, especially since he seemed to prefer me for the job. I didn't understand why he needed to train me when he was such a great bender himself, probably better than what I would ever be. I was just a child and hated this with every core of my being. Before, I had loved it, but now, I hated it. Sighing, I remained awake for a long while watching my sisters in their cribs, going over when they cried and rocking them to calm them down, whispering my mother's song to them. If it was the only thing left we had from them, then I would make sure they remembered it by singing it to them every single time they cried. Exhausted, I fell asleep after a few hours.


End file.
